Organize by Completing Small, Manageable Projects and Tasks

When I offer clients organizing tips, I always start small. My inspiration? Mark Twain once said, "The secret of getting ahead is getting started. The secret of getting started is breaking your complex and overwhelming tasks into small manageable tasks, and then starting on the first one." Who am I to argue with America's favorite wordsmith?

The first rule of organizing is to start small. I like clients to begin by organizing their kitchen or office junk drawer for three reasons:

It's manageable, impactful, time efficient and most importantly, encourages them to keep going!

Examples:

• Don't tackle your living room in one sitting; do tackle your magazine collection or organizize the cable clutter behind your TV or computer, the following day, declutter your coffee table.
• Rather than organize your entire bathroom in one sitting, take 15 minutes today to purge your medicine cabinet of out-dated toiletries, the next day organize your linen closet, the third day install the proper storage implements like hooks or additional vanity shelving.
• Rather than organize your entire bedroom, start with your night table.

Bottom Line: Completing a series of smaller organizing tasks allows you to feel a sense of accomplishment without becoming overwhelmed. Lisa Zaslow, Organizer-in-Chief and Founder of Gotham Organizers advises you to begin with a visible area, "start with a place where you'll see results quickly and pace yourself."

MORE TOP ORGANIZING TIPS

• Organizing Tip: Spend Smartly!
• Organizing Tip: Organize Storage Spaces by Season
• Organizing Tip: Keep It Simple
• Organizing Tip: Group Like Items Together
• Organizing Tip: Start Small
• Top 30-Minute Organizing Projects